In a document for bishops published on Thursday, the Vatican has drawn attention to cultural changes and new ways of thinking which can be obstacles to salvation.

Entitled Placuit Deo (It Has Pleased God), signed by Archbishop Luis Ladaria, S.J., prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by Pope Francis, the Letter is intended to “demonstrate certain aspects of Christian salvation that can be difficult to understand” in today’s culture.

It centers on neo-Pelagianism and neo-Gnosticism, which the document asserts are two contemporary schools of thought, rooted in the past heresies of Pelagianism and Gnosticism, and which have often been mentioned in speeches and homilies of Pope Francis.

The Letter says neo-Pelagianism refers to individuals who believe themselves to be “radically autonomous,” who presume to be able to save themselves and their own strength, and are unable to recognize that they derive “from God and from others.” Such ways of thinking are “incapable of welcoming the newness of the Spirit of God,” the Letter states.

Neo-Gnosticism refers to a model of salvation that is “closed off in its own subjectivism,” the Letter says, adding that it consists of “improving oneself,” of being “intellectually capable” of reaching the mysteries of the unknown divinity without Christ. Such thinking “presumes to liberate the human person from the body and the material universe,” fails to see the “provident hand of God,” experiences a reality that is both “deprived of meaning” and foreign to a person’s “fundamental identity,” and is “easily manipulated by the interests of man,” the Letter asserts.

Pelagianism, a heresy that denies original sin, and Gnosticism which saw Jesus as one of a group of divine beings in a celestial hierarchy, represent “perennial dangers for misunderstanding Biblical faith” the document goes on to say, but both have “similarities” with these two “modern tendencies.”

The document adds that, as both modern-day heresies prevent Christ from mediating salvation, it is important to “reaffirm that salvation consists in our union with Christ.”

The Letter observes the natural human desire for salvation, but adds that it is often secret and hidden: it can coincide with “hope for physical health,” greater “economic well-being,” or a need for “interior peace” and peace with one’s neighbor. It can also manifest itself in “endurance” and “overcoming pain,” as well as the need to ward off “ignorance and error, fragility and weakness, sickness and death.”

By contrast, Christ teaches that no created thing “can totally satisfy us” and salvation is not limited to answering “any particular contemporary desire.” Rather it relates to “our entire being” and that the whole person “is called to live in Communion” with God.

Salvation, Placuit Deo reasserts, “begins with welcoming Jesus” who heals and redeems mankind from sin, creating an “incredible synergy between divine and human action” that “shows how baseless the individualist perspective is.” Conformed to Christ, it is possible to fulfill “the good works that God has prepared in advance,” the Letter adds, quoting from Ephesians 2:10.

The document reminds bishops that Christ does not “limit himself” to showing us how to encounter God, but “opens for us the door to freedom.” Salvation, it says, “consists in incorporating ourselves into his life, receiving his Spirit.”

Understanding this, the Letter continues, is “essential” in helping to overcome all “reductionist tendencies” as it shows it is not due to individual efforts (neo-Pelagianism) nor limited to “merely interior salvation” (neo-Gnosticism). Such ways of thinking, it adds, “contradict” the grace and meaning of the sacraments through which believers “continually grow and are spiritually renewed, especially when the journey becomes more difficult.”

Christ’s salvation also opposes the Gnostic “negative view of the created order” understood as a “limitation on the absolute freedom of the human spirit.” Instead, the Letter teaches that true salvation is not about “liberation from the body” but rather “includes its sanctification.” The sacraments allow Christians to have a “type of relationality” that calls for care of all the suffering of humanity “through the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.”

The eight-page Vatican document says that the fullness of life in Christ means Christians must establish a “sincere and constructive dialogue” with other religious believers, “confident that God can lead all men of good will in whose hearts grace works in an unseen way towards salvation in Christ.”

It also stresses that the Church nevertheless continues to evangelize and preach Christ’s return “since it is ‘in hope that we are saved.’”

“Total salvation of the body and of the soul is the final destiny to which God calls all of humanity,” the document concludes. “Founded in faith, sustained by hope, and working in charity, with the example of Mary, Mother of the Savior and first among the saved, we are certain that ‘our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.’”

Press Conference

At a Vatican press conference Thursday morning, Archbishop Ladaria said the document came about because “various theologians” had asked the CDF to study certain aspects of Dominus Iesus, the Congregation’s 2000 declaration that elaborated on the dogma that the Catholic Church is the sole true Church of Christ.

He said there was “no special reason” why it was published now, but that the Pope encouraged them to publish it “as soon as possible.”

The Pope has referred to neo-Pelagianism in the context of those who “rigidly” adhere to doctrine or Tradition, but the word rigid doesn’t appear in the text of the Letter. Archbishop Ladaria said he was not aware the word was not included, and added there was “no particular reason” why it was not.

Asked to give concrete examples of neo-Pelagianism and neo-Gnosticism, the CDF prefect pointed to references to the two tendencies made by Pope Francis, but he did not wish to “point fingers,” just to “point out these tendencies” to “self-reliance and to isolation.”

Asked which is the more important, he said it is “easier” to point to examples of neo-Pelagianism, but you could “fill books” with ancient Gnosticism which is a “very complicated phenomenon.”

In answer to a question about the issue of ecumenism and salvation outside the Church — a contentious point in Dominus Iesus which inferred the superiority of the Church in relation to Christian denominations — Archbishop Ladaria said “superiority is perhaps the wrong word."

He added that Vatican II taught that “Christ’s Church subsists in the Catholic Church,” and referred to the Council document Lumen Gentium which teaches that “many elements of salvation are found in Christian religious confessions” and “all tend towards Catholic unity.”

Archbishop Ladaria said that denominations have “elements of sanctification” and “we recognize these gladly.” He stressed that “the fact we don’t enter directly into this [in the Letter] doesn’t mean that the teaching has changed. It seems to me to have deepened.”

Pope Francis has [rightly] expressed concern about the heresies of neo-Palagianism and neo-Gnosticism. The concern that they “prevent Christ from mediating salvation, which consists in our union with Christ” is discussed in this short Letter to Bishops.

Many who have already commented theorize that both heresies are aimed at the orthodox, but I wonder if only the neo-Palagianism worry is aimed at (judgmental) conservatives, who may sometimes come across as too confident that we can reasonably commit to “sin no more and avoid the near occasion of sin” [which I think we can, trusting in God’s Grace], while that about neo-Gnosticism is for those who think that if our [mostly unformed] personal consciences tell us we “just can’t stop” the hoochi-coochie, we should feel free to go to Communion, even if living in objective sin.

My [naive?] hope is that the Holy Father is trying to walk the fine line, and that he will find a way to convey this to bishops, so that we will not have neo-Gnostics handing out Communion like cookies and neo-Palagians in the diocese next door driving habitual sinners to despair by coming across as uncomprehending or insensitive to human frailty. May God assist him in this task. As things stand it’s hard to argue with those who say the Church’s Catholicity has been damaged by confused messages.

Posted by Eric Beregerud on Saturday, Mar, 3, 2018 8:11 PM (EDT):

The document does not clearly follow the Francis “party line” at least when compared with Cupich’s embarrassing seminars. It may be a tactical move by a double dealing Jesuit Pope. Perhaps, though, it’s an attempt to show that the CDF doesn’t rubber stamp the Pope’s nonsense. Always nice to hope.

Michael Siddle I really don’t see how your comments about conscience are relevant to my posting in which I am clearly critical of the papal abuse of this concept.

Posted by Bernie on Saturday, Mar, 3, 2018 9:14 AM (EDT):

Here I was, trying to come up with something intelligent to say, but Patricia Dilgard, hit the nail on the head! No mention of “mortal sin” nor “sanctifying or actual grace”, No mention of receiving the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The reason this sounds so complicated, is that they utterly condemn traditional Catholicism. These “Neo-Marxists” are calling real Catholics “Neo-Pelagianism and Neo-Gnostic”.

Posted by Patricia Dilgard on Friday, Mar, 2, 2018 6:52 PM (EDT):

He said there was “no special reason” why it was published now, but that the Pope encouraged them to publish it “as soon as possible.”
AS SOON AS POSSIBLE because Pope Francis will be attending the World Council of Churches in Geneva this coming June. Pope Francis has had an agenda from day one. Under the cover of theological dialogue he is transforming the Catholic church into a global political institution. Paragigm shift is not a theological term. The term was first used by the physicist Kuhn to describe a revolutionary, radical change in scientific thought as compared to changes in thought that are incremental and evolutionary. Also used by economic Marxists as a way to rationalize revolution. For these people it doesn’t matter whether Jesus Christ is the Son of God or even whether God exists. They want a radical social revolution. They are fanatical revolutionaries, and at heart Marxists.

Posted by Mark on Friday, Mar, 2, 2018 1:20 PM (EDT):

Where is the Cliff Notes version that a normal lay person can understand?

Posted by Jer on Friday, Mar, 2, 2018 11:51 AM (EDT):

Placuit Deo is not theological nuance. It is very clearly doublespeak with additional flat-out pseudo-theological nonsense. Jesus says in Luke 13:23-30 that many people go to hell (are not saved), and many people think they are going to heaven but actually end up in hell (and are not saved). It is pretty plain and simple when it came out of the mouth of God. Documents which do not re-affirm Luke 13, Revelation 21:8, etc., are intended to mislead, particularly when they are as gibberished as Placuit Deo. Some are aware of this by noting Pope Francis’ planned visit to the Communist Council of Churches in June. (“World” Council of Churches is a misnomer.) It is clear that he or others will use the absolute nonsense in Placuit Deo to propagate false unity.

Posted by Michael Dowd on Friday, Mar, 2, 2018 11:26 AM (EDT):

The point of ‘Placuit Deo’ is not meant to please God but get Pope Francis off the hook and justify the use of his insulting references to orthodox Catholics as neo-Pelagianists and neo-Gnostics.

Orthodox Catholic it seems are rigid in their misguided and outdated belief that adultery is still a sin. Orthodox Catholics fail to realize that truth and Catholic doctrine evolves and is not fixed. Shame on them for holding on to their pre-Vatican II faith.

All of this says pay attention to Pope Francis and forget about Christ.

Posted by Quadratus on Friday, Mar, 2, 2018 10:32 AM (EDT):

If Bishops are confused about the Pope’s use of neo-Pelagian and neo-Gnostic, and this letter helps them, then perhaps it is valuable. The irony is that issuing this letter on salvation is like sweeping the kitchen floor so it won’t look messy while waiting for fire department’s arrival because your house is burning down. What the members of the Catholic Church need is a bold and clear reaffirmation about genuine salvation theology, what man is saved from and what man is rewarded with, and why. We have a whole generation of youth who either outright reject the notion of Heaven and hell, or believe in some form of Heaven, and that hell is a myth.

If I were a Bishop, I would rather have the Vatican clarify the interview that Pope Francis had with Eugenio Scalfari in March 2015, where Scalfari summarized the Pope’s belief on salvation and hell. The article says: “What happens to that lost soul? Will it be punished? And how? The response of Francis is distinct and clear: there is no punishment, but the annihilation of that soul. ... with the death of the body their journey is finished.”

Now to all those zealous papaloters who say Scalfari, a radical atheist, does not take notes and summarizes the interview from memory, and he is old, and the Vatican said that the articles are not official published texts of the Holy Father, etc… I say to that, the Pope never clarified that interview and those summaries, nor did the Vatican, nor redacted them. If Scalfari is disingenuous, why would the Pope continue to conduct interviews with him? So in the absence of clarification once again, the faithful must conclude that the Pope did make those remarks, and that is what he believes. And that my Catholic friends, is game over theologically. If there is no hell, but only “annihilation”, then Jesus was not truthful and the Church for 2,000 years has been telling us all a big lie. It means there is no divine justice either, and that makes God unfair as well. And what is the point of a particular or final judgment?

If Bishops want to help the youth, they should read to them in homilies, St. Faustina’s visits to hell from her Church approved diary of private revelations. God gave us those insights to help remediate the chaos of confusion of such times as we now live.

Posted by Morenowthanever on Friday, Mar, 2, 2018 10:03 AM (EDT):

Seriously?? This Vatican thinks it has one iota of credibility left? Got a 2x4 anyone? They would be better to just close up shop and wait for the next conclave.

Posted by MikefromED on Friday, Mar, 2, 2018 6:43 AM (EDT):

Having read some of Pope Francis’ documents I have yet to come across anything in them which refers to salvation having anything to do with our eternal life. The emphasis is always on the here and now. The clasasic example of that, of course, is Laudate Si which for the mnost part could just as easily have been written by somebody from Greenpeace. In his own back yard (Latin America) the seepage of Catholics to Protestantism is becoming a deluge. That’s because these people are seeking religion pure and simple. They don’t see it in the Catholic Church. As far as they are concerned the Catholic Church is only interested in the social gospel. They’re wrong, of course, but, in a way, you can hardly blame them. It’s unlikely that this latest document from the Vatican will be read by anybody among the millions of ex-Catholic Protestants but if they were to do so, what would be their reaction?

Posted by Michael Siddle on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 10:43 PM (EDT):

Mariusz Wesolowski . I should clarify that my comments on intrinsically evil acts needs to be read in the context of the individual having an informed conscience.

Posted by Michael Siddle on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 10:16 PM (EDT):

Mariusz Wesolowski Primacy of conscience is only relevant when that conscience is properly informed. Intrinsically evil acts, eg abortion, murder, rape adultery etc are always mortal sins which no one’s conscience can override.

Posted by Michael O'Hara on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 8:34 PM (EDT):

With the Church rapidly headed towards extinction in many parts of the post-Christian West, it is ridiculous that the Bishops and Pope are wasting time babbling on about neo-Pelagianism and neo-Gnosticism. I bet you one in a million baptized Catholics will actually read this document.

Posted by Bob on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 8:11 PM (EDT):

Thank you for the well written and touching article; a beautiful declaration of our faith, and an assurance of the Church’s concern for the faithful. I have encountered these neo-heresy groups, they are out there and trying to recruit, but they’re just another “restless” spirit searching for peace and truth in a dark world. They have built up a resistance to the love of Christ, to the point where trying to speak to them only counters with some relativist reaction. But God loves the poor to the point where we need to love and pray for them.

Posted by Mariusz Wesolowski on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 8:05 PM (EDT):

But Pope Francis himself, with his stress on the primacy of individual conscience, is at least a crypto-Pelagianist…

Posted by Michael Siddle on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 6:46 PM (EDT):

Interesting that the document “Placuit Deo” talks of Salvation and being saved but does not once mention Hell or what we are supposedly being “saved” from. Until the Church starts reaffirming the reality of Hell these documents are really irrelevant as they don’t give any reason why people need Salvation, hence many people will just ignore them.

Posted by Penny Pritchard on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 6:32 PM (EDT):

This may be off topic… but I have been unsettled by this ‘idea’ recently. Can anyone explain to me what ‘carrying one’s cross’ - means not only spiritually, but if this word is correct, physically, i.e. with respect to suffering, and being in ‘communion’.. with whom, Jesus, or on a different level, with the mystical body and the communion of saints, etc. I am confused as to the degree of participation is involved within the sacrificial Thanksgiving of the mass. With such beatitudes as that which ‘confesses’ the beatitude of even martyrdom, do we, with Christ, in and through him, also ‘mystically’ partake in sacrificial possibility of any cross we are challenged or willingly partake in. Is this what possibly meant by making our ‘offering’ - the grapes we grow and the bread we grow…. spiritually acceptable to God. When will the Vatican take it upon themselves to give to the Christian ‘breathern and women to’ a full analysis and explanation of the ‘meaning’ of such words used within the Christian context of ritual… and even explain the ‘essence’ of ritual, and other distinctions in order to make them more (at least philosophically) clear to simple ‘mortals’... or is using this term mortals rather than ‘immortals’ possibly rending this comment as heretical in the sense of ‘agnostic’ rather than ‘gnostic’. Where are the philosophers when you need them?

Posted by Kate on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 5:49 PM (EDT):

This document will be forgotten in a week; that’s how important and illuminating it is.

Posted by Tyconius on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 5:47 PM (EDT):

The term “Neo-Pelagian” is used instead of “Orthodox Catholics” or “Rigid” people and “Neo-Gnostics” are those who cannot see or open up to the “new spirit” of community and ecumenical dialogue which is not only broadening the view of the Church but in essence destroying it. However, it seems that now the new heresies are immovable Orthodox Catholics who believe the Doctrines of the Church don’t change with the times and culture. This is ambiguity and sophistry wrapped in condemnatory garments of illusion.

Posted by James on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 4:58 PM (EDT):

Nothing new here. The usual façade of “orthodoxy” lathered over a the critical and toxic dose of ecumania. Scrapings from the corral.

Posted by Shawn M. on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 4:52 PM (EDT):

[Another document laden with doublespeak]

Theological nuance is often considered doublespeak to the theologically stunted.

[rather than answering the dubia]

The so-called dubia was not an honest inquiry by those seeking to better understand but instead was a veiled attempt to try and set a trap ala what the Pharisees did to Jesus with the woman taken in adultery. Just as Jesus wisely sidestepped the trap, so did Pope Francis who could see by the way the questions were framed the defects in the moral theology they contained.

Seriously, its not hard to answer the dubia point by point but those asking the questions do not really want to know the answers if the latter are anything they do not want to accept. (Based on their flawed misunderstanding of Catholic theology on the matter of mortal sin.) Basically the so-called dubia pushers are trying to arrogantly lecture others rather than humbly seek sincere answers that they will accept with religious submission (cf Lumen Gentium 25, Can 752) even if the answers are not ones they want to hear. Pope Francis is wise to let those folks twist in the wind until maybe they learn some humility and approach these matters with a proper Catholic spiritual disposition.

[It seems to me that Amoris laetitia is a very Gnostic document, at least as interpreted by the Buenos Aires Bishops, which we know is “authentic Magisterium”]

It seems we have another person who is theologically stunted. If Amoris is Gnostic than traditional Catholic teaching on the subjective nature of what constitutes actual mortal sin as taught by Aquinas, Ligouri, and a number of Doctors of the Church is also Gnostic.

I will not even go into those who ignorantly prattle on about supposed “heresies” of Pope Francis by folks who themselves are erring very close to heresy. And these kinds of folks have the temerity to think they are qualified to discuss the Catholic Faith? Phuleeze!

Briefly to the moderators, this response to three combox posters above is consistent with the biblical principle outlined in Mark iv,24 measuring to them as they have measured to others (in this case, their profound disrespect to the Vicar of Christ). In true charity, the tone I take above is one that was required to be taken towards them.

Posted by Botolph on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 3:52 PM (EDT):

The article is objective,fact-filled and very helpful. Although it does not seem to address contemporary issues and debates within the Church, it is in fact, is a necessary foundation of the identity and mission of the Church as well as the New Evangelization. This document is a great blessing

Posted by Peter Aiello on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 3:48 PM (EDT):

The fruit of the Spirit is the result of having the Spirit of Christ within us.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23).
This provides our inner peace and strength. It does satisfy our longing for interior peace. This is our individual and personal result of our salvation which comes from God; and this is our freedom in Christ which enables our good works.
We are led and walk in the Spirit so that we don’t fulfill the lusts of the flesh. This requires surrender and unconditional trust in the Lord because our own will-power is insufficient for bringing us to this place.
This is the required reality behind the outward sacraments.

Posted by Keith C Kirchartz on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 3:48 PM (EDT):

Why be surprised? In one form or another, these heresies have been present in every age, and will probably persist until heaven and earth pass away. We just have to warn the flock to be on their guard against them, because they are so tantalizing.

Posted by Julianne Wiley on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 3:19 PM (EDT):

Interested to hear whether anybody, even one person, will say of himself, “Ouch, the shoe fits.”

Posted by fritz on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 2:59 PM (EDT):

when will the new ‘Vatican propagated’ heresies be called out?

Posted by Chicagoan on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 2:20 PM (EDT):

Another document laden with doublespeak rather than answering the dubia and addressing the concerns of an increasingly distressed and/or confused laity
Very discouraging.

Posted by DONNA BETHELL on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 1:32 PM (EDT):

It seems to me that Amoris laetitia is a very Gnostic document, at least as interpreted by the Buenos Aires Bishops, which we know is “authentic Magisterium.” It seems to me that this paragraph from the article describes the Buenos Aires teaching rather well:

Neo-Gnosticism refers to a model of salvation that is “closed off in its own subjectivism,” the Letter says, adding that it consists of “improving oneself,” of being “intellectually capable” of reaching the mysteries of the unknown divinity without Christ. Such thinking “presumes to liberate the human person from the body and the material universe,” fails to see the “provident hand of God,” experiences a reality that is both “deprived of meaning” and foreign to a person’s “fundamental identity,” and is “easily manipulated by the interests of man,” the Letter asserts.

Posted by Fr Peter Morello on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 1:26 PM (EDT):

This is a moment when I’m delighted I was wrong. I thought Cardinal Ladaria despite his conservative background a newly enlightened proxy of the Pontiff. He has shown who he is aligning with Christ. Prayers he continues and goes further.

Posted by Pat on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 1:19 PM (EDT):

Well first of all, it hard to conceive of the Vatican as re-affirming anything Catholic these days, but really it’s all babble isn’t it.

What’s the point of talking about Gnosticism or pelagianism when you don’t even know what salvation is in the first place. I mean, if Hell is empty, or if nothing is a sin what does it matter if one is gnostic?

Just another Pope Francis shot at the church I suspect.

Posted by Andy on Thursday, Mar, 1, 2018 1:13 PM (EDT):

Whenever I see “SJ” I just stop reading.

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Edward Pentin began reporting on the Pope and the Vatican with Vatican Radio before moving on to become the Rome correspondent for the National Catholic Register. He has also reported on the Holy See and the Catholic Church for a number of other publications including Newsweek, Newsmax,Zenit, The Catholic Herald, and The Holy Land Review, a Franciscan publication specializing in the Church and the Middle East. Edward is the author of “The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? An Investigation into Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family”, published by Ignatius Press. Follow him on Twitter @edwardpentin